Tufting machine



March 9, 1954 E. A. TOoMBs TUFTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 16, 1950 Lifid March 9, 1954 E. A. TOOMBS 2,671,418

TUFTING MACHINE Filed oct. 1e, 195o 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Mar. 9, 1954 UNITED STATE NT GFFICE TUFTING MACHINE Application October 16, 1950, Serial No. 190,274

(Cl. M55-79)` 3 Claims.

This invention relates to tufting machines and it' has for its object to provide improvements in the form and arrangement of the looper and cutter mechanism which, 4by cooperating with the needle, creates loops in succession and severs these to produce a row of pile ends. More particularly it is the object of the invention to provide a simple and compact looper and cutter unit which can be operated apart from the machine, thus enabling its correct functioning to be tested in the most. expeditious manner;l this also permits the louper-cutter unit of a machine to be easily changed for a tested unit and thus cuts down very considerably the inoperative servicing time of a machine. Yet another object of the invention is toV providey a unit bythe use of which a sewing machine of the normal pattern can readily be converted for use as a tufting machine, thus greatly extending its utility.

In a tufting machine having a main body provided with driving mechanism for a reciprocatory needlebar, and looper mechanism which cooperates with a needle carried by the needlebar, according to the invention the looper mechanism comprises a looper and cutter unit which is detachable as a working entity from the main body of the machine, and which unit comprises a unit body for attachment to the machine, an oscillating looper and an oscillating cutter individually mounted on said unit body .so as to cooperate with one another, a linkage mechanism interconnecting said looper and cutter, and actuating means which move the looper, cutter and linkage mechanism in their working motions. Preferably the actuating means comprises an oscillatory arm having a pair of parallel slide surfaces for slidable engagement by a block pivotally mounted upon a rotary eccentric or crank pin. The cutter may be mounted upon a cutter .shaft which jonrnalled in the unit body, the cutter being slide-bl,y

axially and being urged by a. spring into. engagement'with the looper; conveniently the. cutter is xedly mount/ed uponv theY cutter shaft and this shaft is axially slidable as well' rotatable in the unit body.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings', in which:

Figure 1 is a front; View of a single needle tufting'machine, the stand beingV omitted;

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the tufting unit as seen in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 1';

Figure 3 is a sectional front elevation taken on the line 3*-3 of Figure' 2;

Figure 4' is an underneath plan viewof thetuft'- ing unit:

Figure 5 is a part-sectional front elevation ofV a modied construction of tufting unit; and

Figure 6 is a perspective View of the tufting.

unit shown in Figure 5.

The tufting machine shown in Figure 1 is con:-

structed in a similar manner tothe usual sewing.-

machines for heavy work, and has a machine body comprising a base-plate Il) from which a column II extends upwards, said column being formed with a horizontal arm I2 which at its extremity-` has a needlebar casing I3. The machinehasI a flywheel I l which is driven by a belt I5 and which is connected by the usual mechanism (not shown) to reciprocate the needlebar I5 having a needle Il fastened into its lower end. Thus'the point of the needlefrepeatedly penetratesthroughmaterial which is passed beneath a presser foot.

I8 similar to those normally used in sewing machines, a feed ratchet (not shown) being provided in the well-known manner for feeding the material; the feed ratchet is driven from the iiywheel' I4 by an oscillatory shaft I9 in the usual.

manner. The needle l'I` has an eye which is fed with yarn 2.9 from a kop 2I mounted upon a bracket 22, the yarn 2E) being taken through a guide loop 23,. then through aI tensioning device- 24 and take-up arm 25, both of the usual form. The tufting unit according to the invention is indicated at 25 and is fastenedbeneath the baseplate I0V of the machine body; it is driven by a shaft 2l' which in the machine shown is rotated continuously by a chain drive 28, one revolution for each reciprocation of. the needlebar Iii. tufting unit includes a looper 2S, and cutter. 3S; the looper 29 catches yarn loops from the needle Il in the generally known manner, and these loops are` successively out by the cutter 39 as the loops slide towards the backv of the looper.

The'constructionalv details of one form of tufting unit 25' areshown in Figures 2 to 4. It comprises a blockelike unit body 3l which is -attached at'itsupper part to the base plate I0 of'l the machine by two screws 32 and 33. At its rear, the unit body -3I' has an integral luge' 34 which is drilled to form a horizontal journal' bearing @accommodating a cutter shaft 35, this being free to turn andV to move axially. The unit body Si also has a journal bearing 3l containing a looper shaft 38, while at its upper part it is t'ted with a pair of bearing bushings 39 forming a journal bearing for a driving shaft et. The shaft has a sleeve coupling 4I by which. it coupled in, a readily disconnectible, manner. to. theshaft I9 (see Figure 1),.said shaft" la being formedV with a flat. dog 42 extending,- chordwise to engage a corresponding groove 43 in Thev the end of the shaft 40; both dog and groove are offset from the axis, so that the coupling can only be engaged at one predetermined angular position of the shaft 40 relative to the shaft I9. The driving shaft 40 has at its opposite end a crank-pin 44 which is freely rotatable in a rectangular slider block 45. This block fits snugly within a rectangular notch formed in an oscillatory arm 45, the slide surfaces of the notch being shown at 41 (Figure 2). The oscillatory arm is secured to the looper shaft 38 by a pin 48, so that for each revolution of the shaft 4!) the looper shaft 38 makes one oscillation. Also mounted upon the looper shaft 38 is a looper arm 49 having a boss 5E) which is split radially and adapted to be clamped by screws 5l. A nut 52 screwthreaded upon the shaft 38 pushes the boss 55 axially against the force of a coiled compression spring 53, and thus provides a ne adjustment for regulating the axial position of the looper arm 49. At its outer end the looper arm 49 is grooved to receive a looper hook 54 which is secured by a screw 55 working in a slot 56 to provide vertical. adjustment of the looper hook 54. Thus as the driving shaft 48 rotates, an oscillatory movement of about 5 is imparted to the looper hook 54 in synchronism with the strokes of the needle I1, so that the looper hook 54 passes through each yarn loop as it is formed by the needle, said loops being drawn backwards (i. e. to the left as seen in Figure 2) as the material being tufted is passed through the machine. The loops are then severed in succession (and thus freed from the looper hook 54) by a cutter blade 51 which is mounted upon the end of the cutter member 30; the cutter blade 51 has an oblique edge which rubs against the side of the looper hook 54 and has a cutting action like a pair of scissors. The cutter blade 51 is radially adjustable relative to the cutter member by a clamping screw 58 passing through a slot 59 in the cutter member 3U.

For oscillating the cutter member 30 in synchronism with the looper 29, a linkage mechanism is provided as shown in Figures 2 and 4. It is substantially U-shaped and comprises a looper crank 60 fast upon the looper shaft 38, a cutter crank Si which is fast upon the cutter shaft 36, and a link 62 which pivotally connects the two outer ends of said cranks. To simplify the construction the linkage mechanism Ell-62 is arranged as shown in Figure 4. It will be seen that the cranks S5 and 5| move in planes 66a and Gla which are mutually parallel but are offset one relative to the other, the link 62 being disposed between these planes. The cranks vill and 6| have crank pins 53, 54 which are a snug pivotal fit within the ends of the link 62, said crankpins of course pointing in opposite directions, so that the link 62 is automatically retained in position. It is to be noted that this arrangement also allows the cutter shaft 36 to be movable axially for a short distance so as to maintain a predetermined resilient pressure of the cutter blade 51 against the side of the looper hook 54; for this purpose a coiled compression spring 65 is fitted between the boss 55 of the cutter member 30 and the lug 34 of the unit body 3|. The boss 66 is secured to the cutter shaft 35 by a set screw 61.

When the machine is in use the cutter blade 51 and looper hook 54 tend to wear and it is eventually necessary to trim them or even replace them. This is normally a dicult job as the parts must be accurately adjusted if the best working results are to be obtained. It is however a simple matter to remove the looper unit 25 by taking out the two screws 32, 33 and replace it by a similar unit which is already fitted with new looper hook and cutter, and which has been properly adjusted on the bench by the aid of suitable jigs. This replacement only takes a few minutes and at once restores the machine to a condition of full working efficiency. The removed tufting unit can be overhauled carefully when convenient so as to be ready for use when required.

A slightly modified embodiment of the invention is shown in Figures 5 and 6, the main difference being that the tufting unit 26 does not include the driving shaft and its crank (i. e. 40 and 44), but these are incorporated in the machine and are therefore indicated in broken lines at 45a and 44a respectively in Figure 5. The unit body 3! is arranged to be secured by a singlebolt 32a to a block 68 which is formed integrally upon the underneath of the machine base, a rectangular projection 59 being arranged to fit snugly within a groove 10 in the block to provide firm, accurate location. The block 58 has a bearing bushing 33a for the driving shaft 45a, which latter is coupled permanently with the shaft I9- by a sleeve 1l. The crank 44a has a rotatable slider block 45a, from which the oscillatory arm 46 is readily released when it is desired to remove the unit 2B. The construction of the looper 29 and cutter 35, with their shafts 38, 36 and the linkage mechanism Bil-E2 is the same as the corresponding parts in the tufting unit shown in Figures 2 to 4 and therefrom the same reference numerals are used. The unit is, of course, readily detached by removing the bolt 32a.

It will be understood that the above arrangements are only given by way of example and that various other modifications may be made to suit requirements.

The invention enables an extremely simple form of looper mechanism to be constructed which is found to operate very satisfactorily. Owing to the fact that the looper' unit can be bodily interchanged at prescribed intervals for overhaul, very little loss of working time is occasioned by servicing; if the looper mechanism should become defective it can be readily replaced by another unit, thus putting the machine back into service with the minimum delay.

What I claim is:

1. For a tufting machine, a looper and cutter unit comprising in combination a single rigid block constituting a unit body, rst and second bores formed in said block, said bores being parallel with one another, a looper shaft mounted in the said first bore. a cutter shaft mounted in said second bore, a hook-shaped looper member attached to the looper shaft at one side of the block, a cutter member attached to the cutter shaft at the same side of the block as the looper member and engaging slidably against the side of the looper member to cut yarn loops formed upon said looper member during tufting, means coupling together the looper and cutter shafts, a third bore in said block, a rotatable driving shaft journalled in said third bore, a crank-pin on said driving shaft, an oscillatory arm on the looper shaft engaged by the crank-pin so as to be oscillated thereby and a coupling device for connecting said driving shaft to a source of power, the arrangement of the unit being suchthat when the single rigid block is removed from the tufting machine, the looper and cutter members andV their shafts are carried by said block in full working engagement, thus enabling the looper motion and the cutting action to be tried out and accurately adjusted while the unit is removed from the tufting machine.

2. For a tufting machine, a looper and cutter unit comprising in combination a. single rigid block constituting a unit body, first and second bores formed in said block, said bores being parallel with one another, a looper shaft mounted in the said first bore, a cutter shaft mounted in said second bore, a hook-shaped looper member attached to the looper shaft at one side of the block, a cutter member attached to the cutter shaft at the same side of the block as the looper member and engaging slidably against the side of the looper member to cut yarn loops formed upon said looper member during tufting, means coupling together the looper and cutter shafts, a third bore in said block, a rotatable driving shaft journalled in said third bore, a crank-pin on said driving shaft, an oscillatory arm on the looper shaft, a pair of inwardly facing mutually parallel slide surfaces formed on said oscillatory arm, a slider slidable snugly between said slide surfaces and having a bore into which the crank-pin extends rotatably so that the slider and arm are oscillated by the crank-pin, and a coupling device for connecting said driving shaft to a source of power, the arrangement of the unit being such that when the single rigid block is removed from the tufting machine, the looper and cutter members and their shafts are carried by said block in full working engagement, thus enabling the looper motion and the cutting action to be tried out and accurately adjusted while the unit is removed from the tufting machine.

3. A tufting machine having a base, looper and cutter mechanism in the form of a detachable working unit, and means for fastening said unit detachably to the base, said unit comprising in combination a single rigid block, rst and second bores formed in said block with their axes mutually parallel, a looper shaft mounted in the first bore so as to be oscillatable, a cutter shaft mounted in the second bore so as to be axially slidable as Well as oscillatable, said single block forming the sole support for said shafts when the machine is working, a hook-shaped looper member rigidly attached to the looper shaft, a cutter member rigidly attached to the cutter shaft so as to lie between the looper member and the block and to engage slidably with the looper member, means coupling together the cutter and looper shafts, means for oscillating the looper shaft, and a compression spring mounted on said cutter shaft between the block and the cutter member to urge the cutter member and cutter shaft axially so that the cutter member is pressed resiliently against the looper member by the spring, the cutter being free to move under the action of the spring as the cutter shaft is freely slidable axially in the block.

ERNEST ANTHONY TOOMBS.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,123,114 Looper July 5, 1938 2,143,681 Strain et al. Jan. 10, 1939 2,241,113 Bradwell May 6, 1941 

